Big Banks Lead On-Chain and Stablecoin Push
American Banker published a banking industry survey in 2026 examining the adoption of on-chain technology and stablecoins. The results show that large banks are ahead of smaller banks and credit unions, with cross-border payments emerging as the primary use case because they could shorten settlement times and reduce intermediary costs.
The latest survey also finds that U.S. national banks are more willing to issue stablecoins than other types of financial institutions, indicating that large banks are moving beyond technology trials and toward payment and digital-asset services. The report discloses no individual investment or transaction amounts, but its 2026 findings confirm that large banks are leading adoption of the technologies.
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The history behind this eventBanks Turn to Multi-Provider Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure to Reduce Single-Provider Risk
Banks’ early stablecoin adoption typically relied on “black box” pilots in which a single provider handled wallets, compliance and liquidity. While these pilots enabled rapid testing of cross-border payments, they also created vendor lock-in. Fiat off-ramping could grind to a halt if the provider encountered regulatory problems, lost banking access or suffered a system outage, making multi-provider architecture critical to reducing operational risk.
On March 10, 2026, Borderless CEO Kevin Lehtiniitty said the company had partnered with wallet infrastructure provider Dfns to introduce an institutional-grade stablecoin off-ramping system for banks, fintech companies and businesses. The system can connect to multiple liquidity providers and reroute transactions when disruptions occur. The companies did not disclose the value of the partnership, the number of providers involved or a date for the system’s formal launch.
U.S. and UK Plan to Bring Stablecoins Into Cross-Border Payments
Stablecoins have become an important medium in digital finance as blockchain technology has spread. But the lack of harmonized national rules has left cross-border payments facing high compliance costs and fragmented oversight. Integrating regulated stablecoins into the traditional cross-border financial system could significantly improve international settlement efficiency. It would also be a key step toward broader institutional adoption of tokenized assets, unlocking global liquidity and modernizing market infrastructure.
The U.S. and UK finance ministries jointly issued recommendations through the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future on July 14, 2026, outlining a 10-point road map for regulatory coordination. They agreed that stablecoin issuers must provide backing of at least 1:1 with high-quality reserve assets and segregate those assets to protect holders. The initiative is intended to coordinate rules among regulators including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England.
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